It’s a pity New York cannot power its economy on hubris, but state officials this week gave it a try.
The “Future Energy Economy Summit” convened in Syracuse by Gov. Hochul brought together many of the same groups and characters who have shaped New York’s current energy policy — and somehow expected something different out of them.
Helming the summit was Richard Kauffman, New York’s “energy czar,” who for almost a decade has played a major role both in setting New York energy policy and working with companies in the energy sector.
Kauffman is hardly unique in this respect: If anything, he’s the embodiment of New York’s energy policy, which for decades has increasingly seen the political class imposing its preferences — sometimes quite suddenly, and sometimes quite lucratively — with little regard for how their whims translated into higher costs or reduced reliability for families and businesses.
Albany turned seemingly on a dime in 2016, going from encouraging the use of natural gas to blockading projects to bring natural gas to New York or New England.